Weather report: Cool conditions linger across the South

In the West, cool air and isolated showers are beginning to overspread the northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. Elsewhere, warm, dry weather continues to promote autumn fieldwork.

On the Plains, isolated showers are developing from Montana into the Dakotas. Elsewhere, dry weather accompanies late-season warmth. The warm weather is promoting wheat emergence and establishment in areas with adequate soil moisture; however, the drought-stricken southern Plains need rain.

In the Corn Belt, a band of showers is crossing Ohio and Indiana, where summer crop harvesting has been delayed by late maturation and autumn wetness. Across the remainder of the Midwest, corn and soybean harvest activities are proceeding on or ahead of schedule.

In the South, cool weather lingers across Florida, but warm air is overspreading the remainder of the region. Fieldwork activities include winter wheat planting and cotton, soybean, and peanut harvesting.

Outlook: In advance of a strong cold front, early-week temperatures will exceed 90°F across portions of the southern Plains. However, a surge of cold air will encompass much of the nation during the second half of the week. By Thursday morning, temperatures below 20°F can be expected as far south as the central High Plains. Cool weather will be short-lived across the western half of the U.S., where late-season warmth will return during the weekend. Meanwhile, 5-day precipitation totals may exceed an inch in the central and southern Rockies and from the southeastern Plains into southern New England, including the Ohio Valley. The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for October 29 – November 2 calls for above-normal temperatures across the northern Plains and much of the West, while cooler-than-normal weather will prevail from the southern Plains into the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. Meanwhile, drier-than-normal weather across the majority of the U.S. will contrast with wetter-than-normal conditions in the Northeast and from the Pacific Northwest to the northern High Plains.